Exposition of the Whole Bible

| a this chapter we are told who and how many went up with Ezra to Ferufalem, ¥.1—14. the gathering of them together at a river, from whence he fent to Babylon for Levites to come to him, who did, ¥. 15-20. the proclaiming a faft for a fafe and profperous journey, ¥. 21, 22, 23. the delivery of the veffels and money given him into the hands of priefts, to take the care and charge thereof, ¥. 2430. their fafe arrival at 7erufalem, where they depofited the gifts in the temple, offered facrifices to God, and delivered the king’scommiffions to his lieutenants and governors, ¥. 31—36. Shemaiab, and for Elnathan, and for Farib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Me/hullam, chief men; allo for ‘foiarib, and for Elnathan, menof underftanding.] Thete wereallinthecamp, in fome part of it, to whom Lzra fent meflengers:to come unto him; three of them are of the fame name; the firft nine were men of chief note, rank, and dignity in their family, and the other two were noted for men of good fenfe, and that could {peak to a cafe well, and fo fit to be fent on fuch an affair as they were. _ ¥.17. And 1 fent them with commandment unto Addo the chief, at the place Cafiphia, &c.| Nota place by the Ca/pian fea, and near the Ca/pian mountains, as Munjter, which was too far off to go and return in the time they muft, fee ch. vii. 9. and vill. 15. 31. but as: Farchi, a place in Babylon fo called, a village near it, or a parith or ftreet in it 5 where Ezra knew lived many of the Levites and Nethinim, and where Iddo was the chief of the Levites, and over them both: and I told them what they fhould fay unto Iddo, and to bis brethren the Ne- thinims, at the place Cafiphia but Iddo was not fons of Ithamar; Daniel, &c,] Not Daniel thejone prophet, he was of the blood royal, and of the tribe of Fudah; this was a prieft, a defcendant of Ithamar, as Gerfoom was of Eleazar in the line of Phinebas: of the fons of David; Hattufh, perhaps the fame with him in 1 Chron. iii. 22. who was a defcendant of David the king; thefe three men feem to have come alone without any of their families, at leaft they are not mentioned, nor their aumbers given, as the reft that follow be.

y.16. Then fent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for of the Nethinim; for he was chief of the Levites, and by his authority many of them were fent as well as of the Nethinim; but none of the latter were over the Levites, for they were fervants to them, ¥. 20. but, according to Farchi, the Nethinim are not at all intended in this claufe, who reads the words, to Iddo and Achio, (the name of a man with him; perhaps it may be better rendered, ‘o /ddo and bis brother) who were appointed, or fettled, in the place Cafiphia; and with him De Diex agrees, and {fo the Syriac verfion, who dwelt in Ca- /phia: that they fhould bring unto us mimfters for the houfe of our God; both Levites to be fingers and | \porters there, and the Nethinim to wait on them, y. 3. Of the fons of Shechaniah, of the fous of Pharofb, &c.] _ Who is fo defcribed, to diftinguith him from another Shechaniah, y. 5. Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males, 150; males only were reckoned, not women and children; though that there were fuch that went up is clear from ¥. 21. from hence to the end of y. 18. And by the good hand of our God upon us, &c.] Favouring their defigns and orders, protecting thofe that were fent, and inclining thofe they were fent to, to ufe their intereft and authority with thofe that were under them, and making them willing alfo to agree to what was propofed to them: they brought us a man of underftanding of the fons of Mabe /i, the fon of Levi, the fon of I/rael; an I/raclite, of the tribe of Zev, in the line of Madi a fon of Merari, the third fon of Lev:: and Sherebiab; or rather even Sherebiab; fo Aben Ezra; for he is the underftanding man that is meant, and defcribed by his pedigree: with his fons and his brethren, 185 all together made this number.

y. 14. anaccount is given of the number of the males that went up with Ezra, who were chiefly, if not altogether, fons of thofe that went up with Zerubbabel; {ach of them as were left there behind, and now returned, at leaft a great number of them, fee ch. ii. it is particularly remarked of the fons of Adonikam; yr. 13. that they were the laft of them; not that chey were the laft that came in to go with Ezra, or were backward and dilatory, but the Jaft with refpect to the firft of his fons that were gone before, and feem with them to be the whole of his family; the number of all that went up under their refpective heads amounts to 1496.

¥.19. And Hafbabiab, and with him Fefbaiah of the fons of Merari, &c.) ‘Thefe were of the ame divifion of Levites as Sherediah: bis brethren and their fons, 20; thefe 38, with thofe they came with, were all Levites; the Nethinim follow.

y. 15. And I gathered them together to the river\ ‘that runneth to Abava, &c.| From whence alfo the river bore the fame name; or that from the river, fee y. 21. and may be the fame with Adiabene, al country in Afjria, which had its name from the river Adiava: and there abode we in tents three days; or pitched their camp; this was the place of their rendezvous: and I viewed the people, and the priefts; -muftered them, téok the number of them, and what tribe and families they were of: and found there none of the fons of Levi; excepting the priefts.

y.20. Alfo of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the fervice of the Levites, &c.| To wait upon them, and minifter to them, as they did to the priefts; fome think thele were the fame with the Gideonites, whom Jo/hua gave to the fervice of the fanctuary, and David confirmed, but others are of opinion thefe were different from them, and an addition to them: 220 Nethinims: all of them were exprefed by names in.

y. 1. Thefe are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them, &c.] Which follows from hence to the end of ¥. 14. that went up with me from Babylon; with Ezra the prieft and fcribe, the writer of this book: iz the reign of Artaxerxes the king; that. is Darius Hyftafpis, in the 7th year of his reign, fee ch. vii. 1.7. though many think Artaxerxes Longimanus is meant.

¥. 2. Of the fons of Phinehas, Gerfhom: of the

i14 = 2 the hiftory that Iddo fent of them to Ezra; and fo the names of the Levises, though not here expreffed, only the names of thofe they came with.

_ ¥.21, Then I preclaimed a faft there, atthe river Abava, &c.| After the meffengers to Jddo were returned with thofe they brought with them: that we might offi ourfelves before our God; humble themfelves before him for their fins, confefs them, and declare their repentance of them, and afk forgivenefs for them: 40 feek of him a right way for us; to take from thence towards Jerujalem, tobe directed by him in it; either by a prophet, or by a vifion in a.dream, as eu Ezra; or rather. by the guidance of his providence; this they fought, in prayer by the river-fide,. where. it. had» been ufual with them, and fince has been,. to perform religious exercifes, fee Ezek. ia. and ii..15.*° AGS xvi. 131 hence. Leriullian * calls the prayers of the Fews ora- of filver, &c.] Which, according to Sebeuchzer *, tiones littorales: they fought not fo much.which was the fhorteft and eafieft way for them to-travel in, as which was the fafeft: aud for our little ones, and forall our fubjiance; for the fafe conveyance of them; this fhews, that though males only are numbred, as before, yet. they had their wives and and mutt be fupplied; and Sherébiah, ce. or with" the 12 priefts, Sherebiah, Fc, and ten Levites more’ with them; fo that the number of priefts and: Levites, were equal, and in all 24.. > ae _¥. 25. And Iweighed unto them the filver, and the gold, and the veffels, &c.] When he delivered them to them; this he did as a proof of his own integrity and faithfulnefs, and as a fecurity againft any. charge or accufation of embezzling any part of them, and to fet them an example; and alfo that they might bé under no temptation of aéting fuch a part, and: might be' vindicated fhould they be charged with it: even the offering of the houfe of our God what was freely offered for the fervice of it: which the king and bis counfellors,. and bis lords, and all Ifrael there prefent had offered; as free-will2 offerings, feé ch. vii. 15; 16. " 7

¥..26. I even weighed unto their hand 650 talents amount to 975,000 imperials, andof our money 2,229;450 pounds fterling: and filver veffels t00- talents 3 which came to 25,300 pounds, OF 40,000 imperials; according to Farchi, there were 100 veffels,»and every veflel weighed»a talent, and fo childrén with them; for little ones cannot be fuppofed without women to take care of them. pounds:

dbeh Ezra, which, >with Brerewood *; was 37% and af old roo talents; whichy accord ing to Scheuchzer *, were equal to 1,232 4000 ducats &c.\ Which hej of gold; the value of gold now is above #4 and 4

y. 22. For Iwas afbamed to require of the king a band of foldiers aud horfemen,:

might have had, only afking for them; fo great was “the intereft he had in the king’s favour: zo help us againft the enemy in the way; the Arabs, Samariiens, and others, that might lie in wait for them, to rob thein of their Yubftance: decaufe we had fpoken unto the king; of the {pecial favour of God to them, his fingular providence in the protection of them: faying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good, that feek him, that pray

3d to the value of filver, by which may be judged the difference between 100 talents of gold and 106 talents of filver; according to David de Pomis *, there were two forts-of talents; common falents, which weighed 60 pounds, and the talent of the fanctuary, which weighed double to:that. y. 27. Alfo 20 bajons of gold, of 1000 drams, &c.] Which were upwards of 1odo pounds of our money; for bifhop Cumberland fays*, the Per- unto him, ferve and worfhip him; his hand is fan Darie Drachma,» or, dram; weighed twenty open to. them to beftow all needful good upon them, temporal and {piritual, and. his power and providence are over them, to protect and defend them from all evil: dut bis power and his wrath is againft all them that forfake him; his word, his ways and worfhip; his powerful wrath, or the ftrength and force of it, is exerted againft them, and they are fure to feel the weight and dreadful effects of it: and now. all this being’ faid to the king, after this, to defire a guard to protect them, it would Jook as if they had not that favour in the fight of God, and did not believe what they had faid, but. diftrufted. his power and providence towards them; therefore, rather than reflect any difhonour on God, they chofe to expofe themfelves to danger, feeking his face and favour, and relying on his goodnefs and power.

y. 23. So we fafied, and befought our God for this, &c.] Sought the Lord by fafting and prayer for a good journey, and prefervation in it: and he was entreated of us; accepted their prayer, as Zarchi, fo that they came fafe to Ferufalem. __

¥. 24. Then I feparated twelve of the chief of the priefts, &c.| That werd in company with him; fo that it feems there were more than the two mentioned, ¥. 2. very probably their families, or fome of their brethren were with them: Sherebiah, Hafbabiah, and ten of -their brethren with them; thefe men named were Levites, and not priefts, y. 18, 19. and therefore the copulative fhillings and four-pence; and, according to Dri Bernard, it exceeded one of our guineas by two grains, fee the note on 1 Chron, xxix. 7. and two veffels of jine copper, precious as gold; which per haps is the fame with the Indian or Perfian brats Ariftotle ‘ {peaks of, which is fo bright and pure, and free from ruft, that it cannot be known by its colour from gold; and that there are among the cups of Darius {uch as cannot be difcerned whether they are brafs or gold but by the fmell: the Syriae verfion interprets it by Corinthian brafs, which was a mixture of gold, filver, and copper, made when Corinth was burnt, and which is exceeding valuable; of which Péiny * makes three forts, very precious, and of which he fays, it is in value next to, and even ‘before filver, and almoft before gold;, but this fort of brafs was not as yet in being: Kimchi ™ interprets the word here of its colour, being next to the colour of gold.) ee y. 28. And I faid unto them, Ye are boly untothe — Lord, the veffels are boly alfo, 8c.) As they re dedicated and fet apart to holy fervice, fo the> fels were facred to holy ufes, and thenetase ae gold are a free-will-offering unto the Lord Goe but in his fervice. oe ee ¥. 29. Watch ye, and keep them, ce.) The — be converted to any other: and the filver, ¢ your fathers; and therefore not to be m: 4 oh é | veffels, the gold, and the filver, that rbe not — hurt and diminifhed: anti] ye weigh them bef Ky 1 ghar = aE ange a Perv ere eo * Phyfica Sacra, vol.4. p.651). > Depe © Scripture-weights and | » Sepher §

Ch. viii. ¥. 30-—36. chief of the priefts and the Levites, fathers of Ifracl at Ferufalem, in the chambers of the houfe of the Lord; that is, until they had delivered them in. full weight, as they had received them, in the prefence of thofe perfons as witnefles, and into their hands, in order to be laid up in the chambers and treafuries of the temple.

¥. 30. So took the priefs and the Levites, &c.] The 12 priefts and 12 Levites, mentioned in y. 24. the weight of the filver and the gold, and the veffels, to bring them to Ferufalem unto the boufe of our God; this they undertook to do, and did.

¥. 31. Then we departed from the river of Akava, on the 12th day of the firft month, to £0 unto Ferufalem, &c.) The month Niaz, an{wering to part of March and part of April; this was two days

before the paflover began: and the hand of our God was upon us; guiding,

directing, and protecting them by his providence: and be delivered us trom the hand of the enemy, and of fuch as lay in wait by the way; either by intimidating them, that they dared not attack them, or by directing them to take a different road, whereby they efcaped them, fee ¥. 22.

¥. 32: And we came to Ferufalem, and abode there three days,| Before they went about any bufinefs, delivered what was committed to them for the ufe of the temple, and the commiffions to the King’s officers 5 as it was but proper they fhould. have fome reft after fuch a fatiguing journey.

¥. 33: Now on ther4th day, &c.] After theit arrival at Ferufalem: was the filver and thé gold, and the veffels weighed in the boufe of cur God; the temple, that it might be feen and known, that the exact weight which had been depofited with them was now faithfully delivered: this was done by the hand of Meremoth the fon of Uriab the pricft,.and with him was Eleazar the fon of Phinebas, thefe were pricits: and with them was Fozabad the jon of Fefoua, aud Noadiab the fon of Binnui, Levites.; two priefts and two Levites; for fince there were of both that were charged with the above things,

ZRA being informed by fome of the princes, who complained unto him, of the marriages of many of the Jraelites with the people of the land, the Cazaanites and others, was greatly grieved and diftrefled, y. I—5. upon which he made a confeffion of their fins to God, with great fhame, forrow and contrition, and deprecated the evils which they deferved, ¥. 6—15.:

¥.1. Now when thefe things were done, &c. J) When the captives with Ezra had refrefhed them- | felves, and weighed the money and veffels they | brought, and put them into the hands of proper rfons, and offered facrifices, and delivered the Wo, commiffions to his lieutenants and governors, and {hewn his own: the princes came to me 3 fome of the nobles of [/rael, the moft religious of them, who were concerned at the corruptions that were among them, though not a fufficient number to reform them: /aying, the people of Ifrael, and the priefts, and the Levites have not feparated themfélves from the people of tbe land; but joined feed;

11g. it was proper there fhould be fomé of both, when weighed, that they might be witnefes of their fidelity.

¥. 34. By number, and by weight of every ones &c.] They were delivered in by tale and weight, which exactly agreed to the number and weight in which they received them: and all the weight was written at that time; an account was taken in Writing, and laid up, that it might not only be known hereafter what free-will-offerings had been made in Babylon, but that it might be a voucher for the fidelity and integrity of thofe that brought them, fhould it ever be called in quettion.

¥. 35. Alfo the children of thofe that had been carried away which were come ont of the captivity, &c.] Namely, thofe that now came along with Ezra: offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Ifrael; by way of thankfulnefs for their deliverance from captivity, and for their fafe journey twelve bullocks for all Ifrael; according to the number of the tribes; and there might be fome of every tribe that now came up: 96 rams, 77 lambs thefe and the bullocks were burnt offerings: twelwe he-goats for a fin-offering according to the number of the twelve tribes, alfo to make atonement for fins they had been guilty of: ai/ this was a burnt-off ering unto the Lord; excepting the twelve he- goats; which were a fin-offering.

¥. 36. And they delivered the king’s commiffions unto the king’s lieutenants; and to the Lovernors on this fide the-viver, &e.} The governors of the provinces of Syria, Paleftine and Fudea, which were on that fide of Bupbrates the land of Ifrael was: and they furthered the people, and the houfe of God or lifted them up”, eafed them of all burdens, and freed them from all impediments, and affifted them and furnifhed them with every thing, as the decree of Artanermes enjoined them; and provided every thing as they required for ornamenting the temple, and for the facrifices of it; all which is to be underftood of the king’s lieutenants and governors, who obeyed his commands,.

into them: doing according to their abominations 5 not ferving idols as they did, but imitating them in their marriages: even of the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Febafites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites; affinity with many of thefe was forbidden by an exprefs law, Deut. vii. 1, 3. all but the Moabites, Ammonites, and Egyptians, arid from thefe for the fame reafon they were to abftain; namely, left they fhould be drawn into idolatry; that the priefts and Levites fhould do this, who ought to have known the law, and inftructed the people better, was very fad and fhocking,

¥.2. For they have taken of their daughters for themfelves, and for their fons, &c.] Some that were widowers not only took wives to themfelves of the above nations, either when they were at Babylon, where many of thefe nations alfo were, or rather fince their return; but they took for their fons alfo, yea fome that had wives took heathenith ones to them, fee Mal. ii. 13, 14, 15. fo that the boly fuch as the Lord had feparated from other

-with them, though not in idolatrous practices, yet by marrying with them, which might lead them nations, chofen them, to be an holy people above all others, and devoted them to his es and worthip: Lave mingled themfelves with the people thofe /ands, before mentioned, by marrying with them: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trefpafs; they were the firft that went into it, were ringleaders of it, who fhould by their authority and example have reftrained others 3 or they were in this firft tre/pa/s', which was the firft grofs and capital one the people into after their return from the captivity. y:.3. And when I beard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, &c | Both inward and outward garments, that which was clofe to his body, and that which was thrown loofe over it; and this he did in token of forrow and’mourning, as if fomething very dreadful and diftreffing, fee Job i. 20. and pluckt off the bair of my head, and of my beard; did not fhave them, and fo tranfgrefled not the law in Lev. xix. 27. but plucked off the hair of them, to fhew his extreme forrow for what was told him; which has frequently been done by mourners on forrowful occafions in various nations, fee If. xv. 2. So in the additions to Efther, ch. xiv. 2. fhe is faid to fill every place of joy with the tearings of her hair; and Lavinia in Virgil*; feveral paflages from Homer ', and other writers, both Greek and Latin, are mentioned by Bochart™, as inftances of it: and fat down aftonifbed; quite amazed at the ingratitude of the people, that after fuch favours fhown them, in returning them from captivity unto their own land, and fettling them there, they fhould give into practices fo contrary of iparticularly in the forgivenefs of his fin, fee Ezek. ° xvi. 61, 63. for our imquities are increafed over our — head; arifen and {welled like mighty waters, which © feemed to threatén an overwhelming of them: and our tre/pa/s is grown up unto the heavens, being done in an open, public and infolent manner, and in fuch numbers, that they were, as it were, iled ° felljup in heaps, reaching to heaven, and calling down | vengeance from thence. Ezra includes himfelf as being one of the fame nation; and thefe fins being fo common, were become national ones, which’ involved all the individuals, and expofed them to’ the divine refentment. if yy. 7. Since the days of our fathers have we been’ in a great trefpafs unto this day, &c.| The fins. they were guilty of had been long continued in, which was an aggravation of them: and for our inigquities have we, our kings, and our priefis, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, the ten tribes and their king into the hand of the king of Afjria, the kings of Fudab, Feboiakim, Feconiab and Zedekiah, into the hands of the king of Babylon, with the priefts and people: to the fword, | to captivity, and to a fpoil; fome were flain with the {word, others carried captive, and the houfes of them all plundered and fpoiled: and to confufion of face, as it is this day; being filled with fhame when they refleéted on their fins, the caute of thofe evils; and befides, the captivity of the ten tribes continued, and of many others, which expofed them to fhame among their neighbours.

to the will of God. ¥.8. And now for a little [pace, grace hath been y¥. 4. There were affembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Irael, &c.]|\ That had a reverence for the word of God, and the things contained in it; feared to break the laws of God, and trembled at his judgments, which they might apprehend would come upon tranfgreffors, fee If. \xvi. 2. becaufe of the tranferefion of thofe that had been carried away; intoBabylon, and were now returned, and which was an aggravation of their tranfgreflion: and J fat aftonifoed until the vening-facrifice or until the ninth hour, as Syriac verfion, which was about our three o’clock in the afternoon, at which time the evening-facri-jholy fice was offered; perhaps it was in the morning when Ezra firft received his information from the {hewed from the Lord our God, &c.] It was but a mall time fince the Lord firft began to thew favour to them, fo that they foon after began to revolt from him; which argued the ftrange propenfity of their minds to that which is evil, and from which they could not be reftrained by the recent goodnefs of God unto them: to leave us a remnant to efcope; out of captivity, from whence a fmall number were gracioufly and fafely returned to their own land: and to give us a nail in his boly places thela fixed fettlement in the land of Fudea, the holy ]and the Lord had chofen, and in the temple, the place facred to his worfhip; or a prince of their own, Zerutbabel, to be the governor of them, under whom they might enjoy fettled happinefs and y. 5. And at the evening-facrifice I rofe up from my heavines, &c.] The figns and tokens of ‘it, particularly fitting on the ground; or from my faftmg", having eaten nothing that day, it being early in the morning when he was told the above cafe and having rent my garment and my mantle; which he had done before, and ftill kept them on him in the fame cafe: fell upon my knees, and /pread out my bands unto the Lord my God; in the pofture, and with the gefture of an hamble fupplicant.

y.6. And faid, O my God, &c.} Here begins the the prayer of Ezba, and that with faith in God as his. Covenant'God, even when he was about tojhad make confeffion of fin, and repentance for it; that prayer is right which is put up in faith, and that repentance genuine which is accompanied with faith, and flows from it: J am afbamed, and blufh to lift up my face to thee, my God; a true fight and fenfe -of fin caufes fhame and blufhing, and never more than when aman is fenfible of his covenant-intereft in God, and of his grace and favour to him, may lighten our eyes; refrefh our fpirits, chear our fouls, and give us light and gladnefs, fee 1 Sam. \xiv. 27. and give us a little reviving in our bondage; for they were {till in fome degree of bondage, be-:jing in fubjection, and tributaries to the kings of Perfia; but yet being returned to their own land, it was as life from the dead unto them, at leaft it was giving them a little life, liberty and joy.

Y. 9. For we were bondmen, &c.] To the Chaldeans when in Babylon, which was more than the ‘Fews in the times of Chrift would own, Fobn viii. 33. yet our God hath not forfaken us in our bondage, not left them to continue in it always: but ath extended mercy unto. us in the fight of the kings of Per/ia; moved them to have pity and compaifion on them, and releafe them: fo give us a reviving; whilft in captivity, they were as in their graves, and like the dry bones in Ezeéel’s vifion, but revived upon the proclamation of Cyrus, and the encouragement he gave them to return to their own land: to fet up the boufe of our God, and re-

pair the defolations. thereof 3 both to rebuild the temple, and to reftore the worthip of it: and te give usa wall in Fudah and in Ferufalem; not to jet up the walls ot Feru/alem, and of other cities, ‘which as yet was not done; but rather the walls of their houfes, which they had rebuilt; they had walled houfes given them in Fudab and Ferufalem, though the word fignifies an hedge or fence, fuch as is about gardens and vineyards, and may denote the protection of the kings of Perfia, which wasa fence to them again{t the Samaritans, and others; and efpecially the hedge of divine providence about them, which guarded and defended them, fee Job, i, 10. ¥. 10. And now, O our God, what foall we Jay after this?. 8c.) _, What apology or excufe: can be made for fuch ingratitude? what-can be faid in favour of fuch a people? what kindnefs can be expected to be fhewn to a people who had behaved in fo bafe a manner? for we have forfaken thy commandments, particularly thofe which related to marriages with people of. other nations, ¥. 11. Which thou haft commanded by thy fervants the prophets, &c.] Mofes, and Fo/bua, and others, fee Deut. vii. 3. Fofb. xxiii, 12. Fudg. ii. 2. faying, the land unto which ye go to poffe/s it; meaning the land of Cazaan: is an unclean land, with the Silthines of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleannefs; which isto be underftood not of their idolatries only, but of their inceftuous marriages, and impure copulations, on which account the Lord fpewed out the old inhabitants of it; for which reafon the Yews ought to have been careful not to have defiled it again by fimilar practices; fee Lev. xviii. ¥. 12. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their fons, nor take their daughters unto your fons, &c.] That is, in marriage, fee Deut. vii. 3. where the prohibition is expreffed in the fame language: nor feek their peace, and their wealth for ever; that is, as long as they continue in their idolatries and impurities, fee Deut. xxiii. 6. that ye may be Strong, and cat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever; that they might be ftrengthened and eftablithed in the land into which they were brought, and enjoy all the good things it produced, and leave their children in the

: 117 pofleffion of it, to hold at leaft until the Mefiah came, fee J/ i. 19,

YW. 13. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our Sreat trefpafs, &c. As fa»

‘mine, fword, peftilence and captivity, for their idolatries and other heinous fins: seeing that thou our God haft punifoed us lefs than our iniquities deferve; for they deferved eternal punifhment, whereas it was temporal punifhment that was inflicted, and this moderate, and now ftopped; the fenfe is, according to Aben. Ezra, * thou hatt refrained from writing fome of our fins in the book of remembrance, and thou haft let them down below in the earth, according to the fenfe of, thou wilt caft all their fins into the depths of the fea;” but Jarchi better, * thou haft refrained thyfelf from exacting of us all our fins, and haft exaéed of us beneath our fins (or lefS than they deferve) and haft. not taken vengeance on us according to all our fins:” and baft given us fuch deliverance as this; from Captivity, which they now enjoyed.

¥.14. Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of thefe abominatons? 8c.) That are guilty of abominable idolatries, and of all uncleannefs: would’ ft thou not be angry with us till thou badf confumed us; it might be juftly expected: fo rhat there thould be no remnant nor efcaping? any left or fuffered to efcape the wrath ef God, but all confumed by it.

¥.15. O Lord God of Ifrael, thou art righteous, &c.] And would appear to be fo, fhould T/rael be entirely cut off, and utterly confumed for their iniquities: for we remain yet cfcaped, as itis this days that they remained yet efcaped out of captivity, and efcaped the wrath and vengeance of God, was not owing to any deferts of theirs, but to the grace and mercy of God, who had not ftirred up all his wrath as their fins deferved: debold, we are before thee in our trefpaffes; to do with us as feems good in thy fight; we have nothing to plead on our behalf, but caft ourfelves at thy feet, if fo be unmerited favour may be fhown us: for we cannet ftand before thee becaufe of this, this evil of contracting affinity with the nations; we can’t defend ourfelves; we can’t plead ignorance of the divine commands; we have nothing to fay for ourfelves, why judgment fhould not be pafied upon; we leave ourfelves'in thine hands, and at thy mercy.

UpPON Ezra’s prayer and confeffion, it was| many tears:

propofed by Shechaniah, that thofe who had houfe of God married ftrange wives, fhould put them away with temple, their children, which they fwore to do, y. 1—5. proitrate and preclamation was made throughout and cafting himfelf down before the 3 in the outward court before the his face turned towards it, where he ldy: there affembled to him out of Ifrael a very the land |great congregation of men, and women, and children y for all to meet at Feru/alem in three days time, and it was quickly fpread abroad both in Ferufalem, and accordingly they did, ¥. 6—g. when, at the ex- places adjacent, that fuch a great man, a comhortation of Ezra, all agreed to it, and perfons were |miffioner from the king of Perfia, and a prieft of appointed to fee it done, and the work was finithed |the Jews, was in the utmoft diftrefs, rending his | in the {pace of three months, y. 1o—17. andalift garments, and plucking off his hair, and was of the names of thofe is given, who. had married crying and praying in a vehement manner; which fuch wives, and now put them away; of the priefts, brought a great concourfe of people, who con- ¥. 18—22. of the Levites, ¥. 23, 24. of the other |cluded fome great fins were committed, and fore Lfraelites, ¥. 24—44. judgments were coming upon them: for the péo-; ple wept very fore; being affected with his con-

¥. 1. Now when Ezra had prayed, and when be ‘had confeffed, weeping, &c. | Had confeffed the feffions, cries, and tears, and fearing wrath would come upon them for their fins,, fins of the people in prayer and fupplication, with yee I ve 2, And Shechaniab the fou of Febicl, one of the fons of Elam, anfwered and foid unto Ezra, &c.| This.man feems to be one\of thofe that now came with Ezra from Babylon, fee ch. viii. 3, 5. trefpaffed againft our God, and have taken -avives of the people of the land, not that he taken any himfelf,, being but juft come into the land, nor is his name in the lift of thofe that had; but inafmuch as many of the nation, of which he} was a part, and his own father, and feveral of his uncles had;,y¥. 26. he expreffes himfelf in this manner: yet now there is hope in Irael concerning this thing; of a reformation of this evil, and of his father Foiakim' as fach; but ‘though Fobanan® ~~ was never high-prieft, ‘being a younger fon, how-" ever he was a perfon of note, and had a’ chamber | we bavelin the temple, whither Ezra went, either to ad-_ ftrange vife with the princes and elders in it, ¥. 8. orto” — had refreth himfelf with food: and when he caine ' thither, be did eat no breqd, nor drink water; or ra* ther not yet had be eat bread °, as fome tender it; that is, not till he came thither, from ero mae he firft heard of the evil the people had cor which very probably was early in the morning, and it was now evening: for he mourned for the tranfgrefiion. of them that bad been carried away; ° pardon. for it. into captivity, but were now returned from it, “and y¥. 3. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God, &c.| Renew our covenant with him, and lay ourfelves under frefh obligation by proit grieved him the more, that after fuch kindnefs fhown them, they fhould be guilty of fuch an evil..

mife and oath, and unanimoufly agree to put away all the. wives, and fuch as are born of them; means. all the ftrange wives, fuch marriages being unlawful; and fuch wives might the more eafily be put away, fince bills of divorce were in frequent ufe with the ews, and the children of fuch alfo being illegitimate; and the rather they were to be put away, left they fhould corrupt other children, or get into the affections of their fathers, which might lead on to receive their mothers again, and efpecially this was to be done as a punifhment of their fin: though no doubt but a provifion was to be made, and was miade, for the maintenance both of wives and children: according to the counfel of my Lord; either of Ezra, whom he) honours with this title, ‘being a ruler under king of Perfia; or of the Lord God, according to his will declared in his words which is his counfel: and of thofe that, tremble at the commandment of our God; feared to break it, and dreaded the effe&t of fuch a breach; and who no doubt would follow the counfel of the Lord, and join in their advice to act according to the propofal made: avd let it be done according to the law; as that direéts y.7. And they made proclamation, &c.} By the. he voice of an herald: throughout Judah and Ferufalem, unto all the children of the captivity; who were returned from it: shat they fhould gather them- /elves together unto Ferufalem, within a time after mentioned.) ‘ ». 8. Aud that whofoever would come within three days, 8cc.] Or at the end of three days, as Farchi; this was the {pace of time allowed; and which was pitched upon for the quick difpatch of this ‘affair, to prevent any fchemes that might be formed to obitruct it, and left. thofe who had agreed to it, and promifed to affilt in it, fhould repent and go frony their word: according to the counfel of the princes, aud of the elders; tor thoush Ezra had a the)commiffion at large from’ the king of Perfia, to enquire into and retorm all abufes, he cholé not to act of himfelf, but to have the opinion’ and con- {ent of the fenate of the nation; this he prudently did to avoid their envy, and that he might haye lefs oppofition,’ and better fuccefs: bis fubftance - /hould be forfeited; or devoted” to facred ufes, to be put into the treafury of the temple, and ufed in the fervice of it, and therefore never to be return- in fuch, cafes.. ed: and himfelf feparated from the congregation of

¥. 4. Arie, &cc.] From the ground, where he lay proftrate: for this matier belongeth unto idee; as a prieft and fcribe of the law, well veried in it, and therefore gould direct what was to be done according to it; and as a ruler under the king of Perfia, and a commiffioner of his, to enquire whether the Jaw of God was obierved by the Fews, ch. vii. 14. and fo had authority to put the law in execution: we alfo will be with thee, to help and affift in the reformation of this evil: e of good courage, and do it; don’t defpair of going thro’ it, though there may be fome oppofition to it; begin-and doubt not of fucceeding.

¥. 5. Then arofe Ezra, &c.] From the ground where he lay: aud made the chief priefis, and the Levites, and all Ifrael to fwear, that they fhould do according to this word; he took an oath of all that were prefent, to do what was propofed, namely, to put away ftrange wives and their children: and they /ware, by means of which they were kept to| their word of promife, an oath being a folemn, shofe that had been carried away.; into captivity, but now returned from it; that is, fhould be exe communicated from them as a church, and be no more reckoned of the body politic, or a freeman of J/rae/, and fo deprived of all privileges both in church and ftate.

y.9. Then all the men of Fudab and Benjamin, &c.] And fuch of the ro tribes that returned‘and dwelt among them: gathered themfelves together unto.Ferufalem within three days; the time fix« ed; which they were the more careful to obferve, fince it was enjoined by the authority of princes | and elders, and the punifhment in cafe of difobedience very fevere: it was the ninth month, on the 201b day of the month; the month Cifleu, which an{wers to part of November and part of December fo that the zoth day muft be in the beginnin f December; this was almoft five months after came to Ferufalem: and all the people Jat ih fereet of the houfe of Gods the ftreet which led ta the temple, the eaft-ftreet, 2 Chron. xxix. 4. tho?

facred thing. | fome think this was the court of the people, ‘called

¥.6. Then Ezra rofe up from before the. houfe of God, &c.] Departed from thence: and went inte the chamber of Fohkanan the fon of Eliafib; who was of the family of the high-prieft. Eiia/hib was grandfon of Febua the high-prieft, and fucceeded a ftreet, becaufe it lay open; not yet walled in 3 and, according to Fofephus%, it was in an’ per room-of the temple, in which Ezra was, pi aps the fame with the chamber of Fobana 7. oO. trembling becaufe of this matter they were, ne oh about; fome that were guilty, not. knowing what punifhment would be inflicted on them, and others that were not, yet dreaded the wrath of God, left that fliould break out upon the whole congregation for it: and for the gréat rain; which now fell, and which they interpreted as a token of the divine gifpleafure; for though it was in winter-time, yet not with them atime of rain, for the former rain had fallen a month before; fo that this being unufual and unexpected, they underftood it as betokening evil to them.

y¥. 10. And Ezra the prieft ftood up, &c.] In the midft of the aflembly to make his fpeech, acquainting them with the reafon of their meeting together: and faid unto them, ye have tranfgreffed; the law of God in the following inftance: and have taken firange wives; of the people of the land and others, idolatrous perfons: to increafe the tre - pa/s of Iirael; to add°to former iniquities, which had been the caufe of the captivity.

y. 11. Now therefore make confeffion to the Lord God of your fathers, &c.| Of their fin, and exprefs their deteftation of it,- and repentance for it: and do bis pleafure; obey his will, and particularly in this cafe: and feparate yourfelves from the people of the land, the Canaanites, &c. have no fellowfhip with them, make no covenants, contracts and alliances with them for the future: and from the flrange wives; they had taken, put them. away.

J. 12. Then all the congregation anfwered and faid with a loud voice, &c.| That they might be heard, and to fhew that they were willing and ready to comply with what was propofed: as thou baft faid, fo muft we do, being convinced of their fia, they faw it was a duty incumbent on them to’ put away their ftrange wives, and that there was a neceffity of it, to avert the wrath of God from them. ~ \ ‘ y¥.13. But the people are many, &c.] Who have been guilty of this evil: amd it is a time of much rain, and we are ot able to fland without, in the ftreet, becaufe of the rain: meither is this a work of one day or two; to enqure into this affair, who they are that have taken ftrange wives, and to perfuade or oblige them to put them away: for we are many that have tranfgreffed in this thing 5 in marrying ftrange wives.

y. 14. Let now our rulers of all the congregations fland, &c.] Let the great Sanhedrim, or court, of judicature at Ferufalem, be fixed and continued, and others: aud let all them which have taken firange wives in our cities, come at appointed times, to the court at Ferufalem, at certain and fixed known times of their fittings there for this purpofe: and with the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, the principal magiftrates of it, who were to teftify that upon fearch and enquiry thofe were the men, and all the men in their city, that had taken ftrange wives, and that they had put them away according to the order of the princes and elders; and this they propofed to be done in every city, and the account to be brought to the Sanhedrim at Ferufalem, who were to fit at certain times till this affair was finifhed: until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us, which it feems had broke out in fome initances, and they feared would do yet more, unlefs this ftep was taken, whereby they hoped it would be averted. ¥. 15. Only Fonathan the fon of Afahel, and Fa- hqzijah the fon of Tikvah, were employed about the matter, &c.) “To fee-char this affiir'was céndueed in the manner propoted; thatthe’ mabiftrarés of every city brought the perfons’ thar had bees ‘de: linquents, in,their tarns, of which they eave" thems notice, and took che account of thet af ‘they came! and “Mefbullam; and ‘Shabbethat” the Levire ‘betped them; affifted them in this work; the other two perhaps were priefts, and both thefe Levites; and thefe four were the only perfons appointed over this matter, as the phrafe in the preceding claufe may fignify; though ‘farchi interprets it to a quite contrary fenfe, that they were the only perfons that oppofed.and objected to it; and fo Dr. Lightfoor' underftands it, and renders it, food againft this matter; in which they were feconded by the two Levites, and the fenfe is very probable.

¥.16. And the children of: the captivity did. fo, &c.] Put away their ftrange wives: and Ezra the prief, with certain chief of the fathers, after the houfe of their fathers, and all of them by their names were feparated; from all their other bufinefs, and gave themfelves up to attend to this wholly: and fat down in the firft day of the 10th month; the month Teberh, which anfwers to part of December and January; this was 10 days after the affembly of all the people met and broke up: thefe took their places in the great court, and there {at ¢o- examine the matter; the accounts brought in from the feveral cities by.the magiftrates thereof, and recorded them. _ S~.

¥.17. And: they made an end with all the men that had taken firange wives, &c.| Finifhed their enquiry and examination of them: dy the fir/F day of the jirft month; the month Nifaz, atifwering to part of March and April; fo that they were three months about this work, 3. Y. 18. Aud among the fons of thé priefls there were found that had taken ftrange wives, &c.] So that it need not be wondered at, that this evil fhould fpread among the people, when thofe who underftood the law, and fhould have inftructed the people in it, fet fuch an example: namely, of the fons of Fefbua the fon of Fozadak; who was ° the high-prieft; and perhaps for this fault of his in not reftraining his fons from fuch unlawful martiages, is he reprefented in filthy garments, Zech. ili..3. and bis brethren, Maafiah, and Eliezer, and Farib, and Gedaliah, thefe wete the brethren of Fefbua.

*¥. 19. And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives, &c.] They propofed to do it, and actually did it: and being guilty; of which they were fully convinced: they offered a ram of the flock for their trefpafs; to make atonement for it, and thereby fet an example to others to do the like. Aben Ezra obferves, that we don’t find that the trefpafs-offering was a mulct'to fuch who married ftrange wives, and conjectures, that it was the advice of the chief men to doit. From hence, to the end of y¥. 43. is a lift of the’men that had married ftrange wives, and put them away; thofe in ¥. 20, 21, 22. were priefts; in ¥.23,24. Levites, and thofe of them who were fingers or porters; the reft were J/raelites: and it is a very common diftinétion in Rabbinical writers, to diftinguifh ithe Fews into priefts, Levites, and Ifraelites, of thefe we know no more than their names; fome of the heads. of the families may be obferved in ch. 2.

y¥. 44. All these bad taken firange wives, &c.} In all about 113: and fome of them had wives by whom being made of the children being put away, as Shechaniab propofed, ¥. 3. it may be concluded they bad children and yet they put them away, which made it the more difficult for them todo; and cated in the true religion, and entered profelytes at thofe that had none, it is thought to be a. mark of a proper time and the rather, as Ezra gave no

God’s difpleafure at fuch marriages. No mention orders about their putting away, ¥. 11.

they were not, but were taken care of to be edu-

CSYGR HIS book is, by the authors of the plainer afd eafier than his. It has always had a % Vulgate Latin and Arabic verfions, called the /econd book of Ezra, it being a continuation of the fame hiftory, and was by the ews reckon- on J/. ix. 7. calls it Ezra, fo the Ta/mud*; and it has been quoted by chriftian writers under his name; fee the argument of the book of Ezra; but not as if it was wrote by him; for it is a clear cafe it was wrote by Nebemiah, whofe name it bears, as appears from ¥. 1. and throtighout Nehemiah tpeaks of himfelf under the firft perfon; and the ftile place in the canon of {criptures,; both with Fews and Chriftians; and is of ufe to fhew the fulAlment of the prophecy of Zechariah, and efpecially of Daniel concerning the building of the wall of ed as one book with Ezra; Kimchi Ferufalem in troublefome times; to carry on the hiftory of the Fewws, and defcribe the ftate of the church in thofe times, what oppofition was made to it, and what enemies it had, and what mutt be expected when any work of God is fet about; it is the laft of the hiftorical books that was written, as is thought, and contains an hiftory of the fpace of about 2 years, from the 2oth of Artamerxes to the 32d of alfo is very different from that of Ezra, being his reign, fee ch. i, 16 and ii. 14 and xiii. 6.

HIS chapter relates how that Nehemiah, be- T ing at Shufban. in Perfia, and meeting with fore Fews, enquired of the ftate of Feru/falem, of which having a melancholy account, he betook was to mourning, fafting and prayer, ¥. 1—4. and his| prayer is recorded, ¥. 5—11.

royal feat of the kings of it; as Ecdatana was in the fummer-time, this in the fpring, as Gyrus made it, according to Xenophon”; but others fay*, it their feat in winter, and this was the feafon now when Nebemiah was with the king there; for Chieu was a winter-month, anfwering to part of November and of December; of Shufban, fee the note

¥. 1. The words of Nehemiah the fon of Hacha-jon liab, &c.] Or his tranfaétions and deeds; Dibre fignifies things done, as well as words fpoken; who Hachaliah his father was, is not known; the Arabic verfion adds the high-prieft, without foundation; though fome have thought that Nebemiah was a prieft, from a paffage in 2 Maccad. i. 18, &c. and from figning and fealing the covenant at the head of the priefts, ch. x. 1, but he rather feems to be of the tribe of Fudah, fee ch, ii. 3, 5. and Nehemiah may be the fame that went up ' with Zerubbabel, and returned again, and then became the king’s cup-bearer; tho’ fome are of another opinion, fee the note on Ezra ii. 2. andit came to pa/sin the month Chiflew, the gthmonth, asthe verfion; of which fee Ezra x. 9.

‘not of Nebemiah’s age, for if he went up with Zerubbabel, he muft be many years older; but in the 2oth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, ch. ii. 1. @5 Iwas in Shufban the palace, a city in Perfia, the Dan. viii. 2. to which may be added, what a forjtraveller of the laft century fays * of it, “* we refted at Valdac, once the great city Su/¢, but ngw very ruinous; it was firft built by Zythonus, anyjand his fon AMdemnon, but enlarged by Darius the fon of Hy/ta/pes s in the building whereof Memnon was fo exceeding prodigal, that, as Caffioderus writeth, he joined the ftones together with gold =» fuch was the beauty and deleétablenefs of it for fituation, that they called it Su/a, which in the Periaa tongue fignified a /ily, but now it is called Va/- dac, becaufe of the poverty of the place;” and it is generally fuppofed to have its name from the abun- \dance of lilies about it; but Dr. Hyde * gives an- Arabic other fignification of its name, he fays the Perin the 20th year;'fians called it,yuym Sus, which fignifies /iguorice, but for what reafons he fays not. ‘There is a city now called Shuffera, and is thought by fome travellers to be built at leaft very near where Shujban formerly ftood ‘.

_ ¥. 2. That Hanani, one of my brethren, &c. ] Fither in natural relation, ch. vii. 2. or being a Few of the fame nation and religion; fo Farchi ‘interprets it, one of my companions or acquaintahce: be and certain men of Fudab; who came from thence to Shufhan on fome accouht or an- “other: and I ajked them concerning the ‘fews that

had efcaped, which were left of the captivity, who.

were returned from it to: their own land; he enquired of their health and profperity, in what circumftances they were, whether profperous or adverfe, whether they flourifhed, or were in diftrefs: and concerning Jerufalem; whether it was rebuilt, the houfes and walls of it, and in what condition it was.

¥ 3. And they faid unto ine, the remnant that are left. of the captivity there in the province, &c.

In Fudea, now reduced toa province of the Perfian empire: are in great affidlion and reproach; harafled and diftreffed, calumniated and vilified by their enemies the Samaritans: the wall of Ferufalem alfo is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire, that is, its wall and gates were in the fame condition in which Nebuchadnezzar had left them, for fince his times as yet they had never been fet up; for this is not to be underftood of what was lately done by their adverfaries, ‘which is not at all probable.

¥.4. and if came to pafs when I heard thefe words, &c.] This fad and melancholy account of things: that I fat down and wept, and mourned certain days; fat down upon the ground in duft and afhes, after the manner of mourners, and wept bitterly, and mourned in a moft forrowful manner, fee Fob ii. 8, 12, 13. and fafted and prayed before the God of heaven; that made it, and dwells in it.

¥. 5..And_faid, I befeech thee, O Lord God of heaven, &c.| He prayed not to the hoft of heaven, the fun in it, as the Perfians, but to the God of it, in a humble fupplicant manner: the great anda terrible God; who is to be feared, and had in reverence of all his creatures, becaufe of his greatnefs and glory, being God over all, bleffed for ever, and his name holy and reverend: shat keep- ye ‘ Ch.i.y¥.2—a1f. | yx.7. We have dealt very corrupily againft thee, &c.] Corrupted his covenant, laws, and precepts, _as well as themfelves, ways, and works; all which were againft the Lord, contrary to his nature mind, and will: aud bave not kept the command ments, nor the fiatutes, nor the judgments, which thou | commandedft thy fervant Mofes; thz laws, moral, ces. remonial, and jtidicial. oz ¥.-8. Remember, 1 befeech thee, the Sh) that thou tommandedjt thy fervant Mofes, ec. Co] uiblifh and declare to the children of Tjrael, Deut.

xxviil. 64. and xxx. -3, 4, 5. /aying, if Je tranf= grefs; the law of God: J will fcatter you abroad: among the nations; as» now. they.had.beenameng) the Affyrians, Chaldeans, Medes and Perfians. ¥.9. But if ye return unto me, and keep my com= mandments, and do them, &c.| Return by repent- | ance, and as a proof of the genuinenefs of it, yield obedience to the €ommahds of God, and continue therein: though there were- of you caft out unto the uttermoft part of the beaven; that is, the uttermoft parts of the earth, the moft diftant regions; fo called, becaufe at the extreme parts of the horizon, according to our apprehenfion, the heavens and earth touch each other; fo that what is the uttermoft part of the one, is fuppofed to be of the other: yet will / gather them from thence; and will bring them unto the place that I have chofén to fet my name there; that is, to Ferufalem, where the tem= ple was built, and his name was called upon.). y. 10. Now theje are thy fervants, and thy, people, &c.] Meaning thofe that were in Jerufalem and Fudab, gathered out of feveral countries,. and returned to Ferufalem: whom thou baft redeemed by thy great power, and by thy firong hand, touching and moving the heart of Cyrus to proclaim liberty to them, ' y. 11. O Lord, I befeech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy fervant, &c.] To the prayer of Nehemiah, put up at this time: and to the prayer of thy fervants, who defire to fear thy name; the prayer of the Fews in Fudea, whole defire was to worfhip the Lord in his temple, according to his will.: and profper, I pray thee, thy eth covenant and mercy for them that love him, and fervant this day; meaning himfelf, who was to obferve bis commandments, who keep them from a principle of love to him; to thofe he has made gracious promifes in his covenant, which he truly and faithfully performs; and the confideration of thefe perfections in God, animates and encourages good men in prayer to him.

y¥.6. Let thine ear be now attentive, &c.] To his prayer, asin ¥. 11. and thine eyes open; to behold with pity and compaffion the diftreffed cafe of Ferufalem, and the Fews in it: J pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Irael thy fervants; this he had continued to do ever fince he heard of their trouble and calamity: and confefs the fins of the children of Ifrael, which we have finned agatnft thee, both I and my father’s boufe have finned; he confidered fin as the caufe of all this evil that had befallen his people, and confeffes it with forrow and humiliation, and not their fins only, but his own perfonal and family fins, wait on the king of Perfia that day, and if he had opportunity intended to Jay the cafe of the Fews before him, and therefore intreats he might meet with fuccefs: and grant him mercy in the fight of this man; king Artaxerxes; who was.but a man, and whofe heart was in the hands of God, and he could eafily move him to pity and compaffion towards his poor people the Fews: for I was the king’s cupbearer; in the execution of which office he was often in the kiny’s prefence, and hoped to have an opportunity of {peaking to him in the behalf of the Fews; this with the Perfanus was reckoned a very honourable office*.. A fon of Prexafpes, a very honourable man, was made cupbearer to Camby/es; and fo it was with the Greeas and Romans"; and the poets not only swale Cae medes to be Fupiter’s cupbearer’, but even Vulcan himfelf is put into this office *. Fer pene

If. his life, though it feems to be a common falutation of the kings in thofe times, fee Dan. vi. 6, 21. why fhould not my countenance be fad, when the city, the place of my fathers fepulchres lieth wafte, and the gates thereof are confumed with fire? a man’s native place, and where his anceftors lie interred, being always reckoned near and dear, the king and his nobles could not objeé to his being concerned for the defolations thereof.

¥. 4. Then the king faid- unto me, for what doft thou make requeft? &c.| The king fuppofed that

GFE AP. NEHEMIAH being forrowful in the king’s refence, the reafon of it was afked by the king, which he declared, and then took: the opportunity to» requeft of the king, that hé might be fent to Feru/alem to rebuild it, which was granted him, ¥. 1-—8. upon which he fet our, and came #0 ferufalem,, to the great grief of, the enemies of [/rael, ¥. g—11.,and atter he -had, been three days in Ferujalem, he, privately took a furvey of it, to fee what condition it was in, unknown to, the rulers there, ¥..12—16. whom he afterwards, exhorted,to rife up, and build the wall of the city, which they immediately fet about, ¥. 17,18. not regarding the icoffs and taunts of their enemies,.¥. 19, 20. | moved this, as being there was a meaning in thofe looks and words of his, that he had a favour to afk of him, and therefore encourages him to it; or the king of himfelf defirous of doing any thing for him he would propofe, to make him eafy: /o I prayed to the God of heaven; fecretly; in an ejaculatory way, giving him thanks for thus difpofing the king’s heart towards him, and intreating he might be directed what to afk, and in a proper manner, and that he might fucceed.

¥. 1. And it came to pafs in the month Nifan, in the 20th year of Artamerxes, &c.] 1c was ftill but in the 2oth year of his reign; for though Nifan or March was the firft month of the year with the ews, and from. whence the reigns of their kings were dated’; yet with other nations, Jifvi or September was the beginning of the. reigns of their kings ™; fo that Chiflez or November. being fince, fee ch. i, it was no-more in Nifan or March than the 20th of the faid king’s reign, and was three or four months after Nebemiah had. firlt heard of the diftrefs of his people; which time he either purpofely fpent in fafting and prayer on that account, or until now his turn did not come about to exercife his office, in waiting upon the king as his cupbearer: but now it was hat wine was before dim, the kings it was brought and fet in a proper place, from whence it, might be taken for his ufe: and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king 5 according to Aenapbon", the cupbearer with the Perfians and Medes ufed to take the wine out of the veffels into the cup, and pour. fome of it into their left-hand, and fup it up, that if there was any poifon in it, the king might not be hurt, and then he delivered it to him upon three fingers°: now I bad not been before-time fad in kis prefence; but always pleafant.and chearful, fo that the fadnefs of his countenance was the more taken notice of. ».

¥. 2. Wherefore the king faid unto me, why is thy countenance fad, feeing thou art not fick? &c.) He had nodiforder upon him to change his countenance, and make him forrowful, and therefore afks what fhould be the reafon of it:,t2is is nothing ee but forrow of heart; this is not owing to any bodily _difeafe or pain, but fome inward trouble of mind, or wickednefs of beart®, {ome ill defign in his mind, which being confcious, of, and thoughtful about, was difcovered in his countenance; he fufpected, as Farchi intimates, a defign-to kill him, by putting poifon into his cup: thea Iwas very fore afraid; left the king fhould have-fufpicion of an. ill defign on him; or left, fince he muft be obliged to give the true reafon, he fhould, not fucceed in his. requeft, it being fo large, and perhaps many about the king were no friends to the Jews.

¥. 3. And I faid unto the king, let the king live for

ever, &¢c.] Which fome think he faid to take off the king’s fufpicion of his having a defign upon

¥. 5. And I faid unto the king, if it pleafe the

king, and if thy fervant have found favour in thy

ight, &c.|} We fubmits what he had to fay wholly to the pleafure of the king; and puts it upon. his wamerited favour, and not on any defert of his own: that thou wouldft fend me unto Fudah unto the city of my fathers fepulchres, that I may build it; the wall of it, and the houfes in it; the favour was, that he might have leave to go thither, and fet about fuch a work, for which he was: fo concerned.

¥. 6. And the king faid unto me, the queen atfo fitting by him, &c.] Which it feems was not very common for the queens of Perfa to dine with the kings their hufbands; though this may be obferved, not fo much for the fingularity of it, as for the providence of God in it, that fo it fhould be, fhe having a good refpect for Nebemiah, and the Fewsz/h nation, and forwarded the king in his grant to him: if this king was Darius Hy/fta/pis, this his queen was 4offa, daughter of Cyrus *, who might be the more friendly to the Jews, on account of ‘her father’s great regard unto them: for how long fhall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return ¢ what time would he afk to do this bufinets in? this fhows the king had a great refpect for him, and was loth to part with him, at leaft for any great length of time: /o it pleafed the king to

[end me; when he promifed to return unto him, not in 12 years, which was the time of his government in Judea, but in a leffer fpace,’ perhaps a year at moft, fince in lefs than-two months the wall of Jerufalem was finifhed, and it may be, that he then returned to the king of Perfia, who fent him again under the character of a governor, finding it was for his intereft to have fuch a man. in thofe parts.

¥. 7. Moreover, I faid unto the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, &c. }

The riverof Euphrates, on that fide of it towards the land of ‘Judea: that they may convey me over till 1 come into Fudah: furnifh him with provifions, and a guard to protect him,

¥.8. And a letter unto Afaph the keeper of the king’s foreft, &cc.] The foreft or mountain of banon, which becaufe of its odoriferous and fruitbearing trees, was more like an orchard or paradife, as this‘word fignifies, and fovit is tranflated in Eccl. ii, 5. Cant. iv. 13. and at the extreme part of it, it feems there was acity called Paradijus*; fach an officer as.here,was among the Romans, called Sa tuarius’, and is now among us: that be may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertaineth to the boufe, not the king’s pa- Jace near the temple, for that might have occafioned {ufpicion in the king, that his view was to fet up himfelf as king in Fudea; but for the gates of the courts adjoining to the temple, and of the of the outward court, and of the wall which was to encompafs the mountain of the houfe, the whole circumference of it: and for the wall of the city; to make gates of in various places for that, where they ftood before: and for the houfe which I foall enter into, and dwell in during his ftay at Yerufalem: and the king granted me, all the above favours: according to the good hand of my God upon me the kind providence of God, which wrought on the heart of the king, and difpofed it towards shim, and over-ruled all things for good, gates y.13. And I went out by night, by the gate of Le- tthe valley, &c.] Where that formerly flood, for the-gates had been burnt, and were not as yet rebuilt; this was the gate that led to the valley of Febofkaphat, according to fome; or rather to the valley of dead bodies, through which the brook Kidrog ran, fee 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. Fer. XXX. 4. it is -|the gate through which Chrift went to Calvary; it led to Shiloh, Bethoron, and Galan: even before the dragon-well; fo called from its winding about, juft as a crooked winding river is called ferpentine s though fome think here ftood an image of a dragon, either in wood, or ftone, or brafs, out of the mouth of which the water flowed from the walljwell; and-others, that fince the defolations of Feru/alem, ferpents or dragons had their abode here:- and tothe dung-port; by which they ufed to carry the dung out of the city, and by which they went to Foppa, the fea, and all the weftern parts: and viewed the walls of Ferufalem, in what condition they were, what was neceffary to be wholly taken down, and where to begin to build: it muft have been a moon-light night, or he could not have taken a view; for to have carried torches or lamps with them, would have difcovered them: and the thereof were confumed with fire; nothing of them remained.

¥. 9. Then L came to the governors beyond the river, &c.] Who thefe governors were, whether the fame-who were in the fecond year of this king’s reign 18 years ago, Tatnai and Shethar-boznai, is not certain; sow the king had fent captains of the army, and horfemen with me; both to do him honour, and for his fafety; and coming thus attended, mutt ferve to recommend him to the governor, who received him from them at the river Euphrates, and conducted him to Fudab, leadeth y.14. Len I went on to the pool of the fountain, jand to the king’s pool, &c.] That led tosthe founi cain Siloah or Gibon, fo called; it was the ‘way to the potter’s field, to Bethlehem, Hebron, Gaza, and £gypt. Rauwolff fays*, there is ftill ftanding on the outfide of the valley Zyropeum, (which diltinguifhes the two mounts Zion and Moriah) the gate of the fountain, which hath its name, becaule it towards the fountain of Sifoab, called the Whojking’s pool: dat there was no place for the beaft that was under me to pafs; becaufe of the heaps of rubbifh that lay there.

y. 10. When Sanballat the Horonite, &c.] either prefided at Horonaim, or fprung from thence, a city of Moab, If. xv. 5. and Tobiah the fervant, the Ammonite; who was formerly a flave, but now raifed from a lows mean eftate, to be governor in the Jand of Ammon, though ftill a vaffal of the king of Perfia: heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, that there came a man to feek the welfare of the children of Ifrael,; to which the Moadites and Ammonites were always averfe, and ever bore an hatred to Jfrael, and envied every thing that tended to y.15+ Then went 1 up in the night by the brook, &c.]’ The brook Kédron: and viewed the wall, that was -on that fide: and turned back; did not go quite round the wall, the way perhaps being obftruéted with rubbifh, and'was unpaflabie, or he had not time to do it: and entered by the gate of the valley, and {fo returned; into the city, the fame way he went out of it, ¥. 13.

their happinefs. y. 16. And the rulers knew not whither I went,

y.11. So I came to Ferufalem, and was there three days.| Before he entered on any bufinefs,|ru refting himfelf from the fatigue of the journey, and receiving the vifits of his friends, as Hzra before him did, ch. viii. 32. it to the Fews;

y.12. And larofe in the night, I and fome few men with me, &c.| Both the feafon of the night, and the fmall number of men to accompany him, were chofen for greater fecrefy, that the bufinefs he came upon might not as yet be known, and fo no {chemes formed to obftruct or difcourage: meiz ther told I any man what God bad put in my beart to do at Ferujalem, he was fatisfied, that what he had in view was from the Lord, who had ftirred Kim up to it, but thought it prudent for the prefent to conceal it, until things were prepared to put it in execution: weither was there any deaft with me, fave the beaft that I rode upon; he only rode perhaps on a mule, being not yet recovered quite from the fatigue of his journey, and for the fake of honour; the reft went on foot, that there might be no noife made, and fo pafs on unheard and unor what I did, &c.| The rulers of the city of Fealem, who feem to be officers of the king of Perfe, fince they are diftinguifhed from Fewi/h rulers, in the next claufe: either bad I as yet told what he came about and defigned to do: nor to the priefts, nor to the nobles, nor to the r#/ers; the principal men among the Fews, both ecclefiaftical and civil: nor to the reft that did the work; of building and repairing neither; thofe that were employed in it, nor thofe that overlooked ir.

¥. 17. Then faid I unto them, &c.| The priefts and princes of the ews: you fee the diftrelt that we are in; lie open to our enemies, and expofed jto their infults: bow Ferufalem lieth wajfte, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire, ch. i. 3. and ii. 3, 13. come, and let us build up the wall of Ferufalem, that we be no more a reproach; to their neighbours about them, who fcoffed at them as a dej fencelefs people, and frequently came in upon them, — and fpailed and plundered them of their goods and fubftance. RK oA y¥. 18. Then I told them of the hand of my God vidence of God in exalting him in the court of the king of Perfia, in giving him an opportunity laying the fad cafe of Ferufalem before him, and inclining his heart to fhew favour to him, grant his requeft: as al/o the king’s words that bad fpoken to me; what pafied between them on this fubject, the commiffion he gave him, and the;&c. Jetters he fent by him to his governors on this the river: and they faid, let us rife up and build; encouraged by this account of things, they pofed to fet about the work immediately: ftrengthened their hands for this good work; animated and encouraged one another to proceed to it at once with chearfulnefs, and to go onin it with fpirit and refolution,. build;

¥. 19. But whew Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the ervant the Ammozite, and Gefhem the Arabian, &c.| This third man might be both anjlonged Arabian by birth, and governor of fome part of Arabia near Judea: heard it; of their beginning to build: ¢hey laughed us to {corn, and defpifed us; as ‘vety filly people, that undertook whar they could never perform: avd feid; adding threatenings to their {coffs: what is this thing that ye, do? do ye know what ye are about? have ye any aufufier for it: will ye rebel againft the king? the ofjking of Perfia; it will be deemed rebellion and injtreafon, and you'll be taken up and treated as.reandjbels and traitors; take care what you do, be it at © belyour peril if you proceed.

y.20. Then anfwered J them, and faid unto them, - With much fpirit and boldnefs, not at all fidejintimidated by their {coffs or threats: the God of heaven, be will profper us; whom we ferve, ‘and pro-junder whofe protection we are, who will fupply o ¢heyjus with every thing we want, and fuccéed this undertaking, in whofe name we engage in it, and of whom we depend, and we care not what man can |do to us: therefore we bis fervants will arife and in fpite of all oppofition, difficulties, and difcouragements: but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Fernfalem; no part of the city beto them; they had no jurifdiétion there; they had no name there, nor their anceftors, in times paft; nor. had they done any thing to perpetuate their memory in it: in fhort, they had nothing to do with them, neither in religious nor in civil things; and it was beft for them to mind their own affairs where they prefided, and not trouble themfelves about theirs.

thority to do it? it is unlawful; you will certainly